A stroll down #1 at Poppy Hills. Monterey Peninsula golf coures that are reasonably affordable, compared to the likes of Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Spanish Bay. by Michael Macor/The Chronicle

Photo: MICHAEL MACOR

A stroll down #1 at Poppy Hills. Monterey Peninsula golf coures...

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Poppy Hills #10 is guarded by a lake off to the left side. Monterey Peninsula golf coures that are reasonably affordable, compared to the likes of Pebble Beach, Spyglass and Spanish Bay. by Michael Macor/The Chronicle

Photo: MICHAEL MACOR

Poppy Hills #10 is guarded by a lake off to the left side. Monterey...

Why, even one extremely prominent Tour pro -- hint, his nickname is a synonym for a large, striped feline -- walked to the 5th tee box at Poppy Hills last year and sighed, just loud enough for trailing writers to hear, "Ahhh . . . I love this golf course."

He was not being sincere.

It gets worse. Sports Illustrated commissioned a survey of players to rate the worst courses on Tour. The good news: Poppy Hills was not selected the worst.

The bad news: It tied for third, locked with the forgettable TPC at Heron Bay, the former site of the Honda Classic.

Only the goat track that is La Cantera, which hosts the Texas Open, and the universally panned En-Joie Golf Club in Endicott, N.Y., ranked higher. Or lower, as it were.

Since it joined the three-course rotation in 1991, Poppy Hills has been known on Tour for the following things: Greens with too many humps and bumps. Goofy holes. Poor drainage. Too many doglegs. And, in its worst crime, not being Cypress Point.

Cypress Point, always one of the world's top-ranked courses, bowed out of hosting the AT&T in 1990, after it declined to follow the Tour's order to immediately admit a black member to the private club. Poppy Hills then was ushered into the rotation, and the pros immediately starting giving it the thumbs-down.

"I do miss Cypress Point," O'Meara said. "That was a loss."

One caddie, asked if Poppy Hills was the worst course on Tour, paused and said: "No . . . it's not the worst. It's just that, after Cypress Point, you know . . . "

Most start their complaints with the par-5 9th hole, which features a giant crevice from the middle of the fairway, all the way to the green. It's a crater, and it forces players into awkward lies, club choices and strategies.

"Nine is goofy," one player said, then chuckled: "And so is 10, 11, 12, 13 .

. ."

Matt Gogel wonders what the fuss is. He shot the course record there in 2001, a cool 62. He likes the place.

"It's neat," he said. "It's the balance of three different courses. . . . I love it."

Gogel crafts his argument: There are five par 5s at Poppy Hills, so pros can go low. "If you need a good round, it's there," he said. "If there's miserable weather, that's the course to be on."

The scenery, wooded and serene, is a plus. "I like the setting," Gogel said.

"It's a pretty course."

Still, Gogel's arguments wear thin in the face of the overwhelming opinion of other players.

"Come on," Scott McCarron said with a laugh, "he won there. Of course he likes it."

Robert Trent Jones Jr. designed Poppy Hills, but most say it's not his fault. Jones has designed gems such as Princeville in Kauai. At Poppy Hills, he did what he could.

In fairness, a walk around Poppy Hills is a good walk, even if others say it's spoiled. There are long par 3s and attractive forest scenes and, even, the occasional glance at the Pacific Ocean in the distance. An amateur would consider it a treat to play the course, and it even has the vote of approval from Tour winners such as Gogel.